Individual differences in the stability of personality needs: Relations to stress and substance use during adolescence

Abstract

In this study we extend Offer and Offer's ( From Teenage to Young Manhood: A Psychological Study, 1975) conception of alternative growth patterns in adolescence to the area of personality development and its relationship to the development of drug use behaviors. Temporal stability of personality organization is assumed to reflect relatively smooth transitions in psychosocial development. We predict that adolescents who exhibit instability within the person domain, reflected in substantial changes in personality needs across 3 yrs, are experiencing increased levels of stress and are more likely to engage in intensive drug use behaviors than others. A community sample ( N = 1380) of 12, 15 and 18 yr old males and females were initially tested in 1979–1981; 1982–1984, 95% were retested at the ages of 15, 18 and 21. Stable, moderate and changing personality groups were identified. Repeated measures (measurement time) ANOVAs revealed that males with substantially changing personalities experienced significantly more stress due to a perceived lack of personal and social competence and self-acceptance than others. They also reported reliably greater involvement in all substanstance use behaviors than did those who maintained relatively stable personality needs across the 3-yr intertest interval. In contrast, no relation between personality needs stability, stress and substance use was found for females. Directions for future research aimed at determining reciprocal causality are suggested.